The Effect of L2 Proficiency and Study‐Abroad Experience on Pragmatic Comprehension

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined the effect of general proficiency and study-abroad experience on pragmatic comprehension in second-language English. Participants were 25 native English speakers and 64 Japanese college students of English divided into three groups. Group 1 (n = 22) had lower proficiency and no study-abroad experience. Group 2 (n = 20) and Group 3 (n = 22) had higher proficiency than Group 1 but differed in their study-abroad experience. Group 2 had no study-abroad experience, but Group 3 had a minimum of 1 year of study-abroad experience in an English-speaking country. They completed a pragmatic listening test measuring their ability to comprehend conventional and nonconventional implicatures. Group performance was compared for the comprehension accuracy scores and response times. There was a significant effect of proficiency on response times but no effect of study-abroad experience. Comprehension accuracy scores revealed mixed findings. It was advantageous for students to have studyabroad experience in the comprehension of nonconventional implicatures and routine expressions but not in indirect refusals.

Relationship between Cultural Intelligence and Pragmatic Comprehension

“…Taguchi, 2008), language proficiency level (e.g. Taguchi, 2007;Taguchi, 2011), study-abroad experience (e.g. Taguchi, 2008;Taguchi, 2011), attitude toward target language culture (e.g.…”

“…Taguchi, 2007;Taguchi, 2011), study-abroad experience (e.g. Taguchi, 2008;Taguchi, 2011), attitude toward target language culture (e.g. Rafieyan et al, 2013a), and cultural distance (e.g.…”

“…The questionnaire consisted of 20 items with four subscales: meta-cognitive cultural intelligence (items 1-4), cognitive cultural intelligence (items 5-10), motivational cultural intelligence (items [11][12][13][14][15], and behavioral cultural intelligence (items [16][17][18][19][20]. The items on the questionnaire were based on a 7-point likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree with values 1 to 7 assigned to them respectively (Rafieyan et al, 2013b).…”

“…To assess language learners' pragmatic comprehension ability, a pragmatic listening comprehension test, developed by Taguchi (2007Taguchi ( , 2008Taguchi ( , 2011…”

Exploring Cross-cultural Pragmatic Judgment of Two Groups of EFL Teachers on Formal Written Requests

“…The subjects in this current study were EFL teachers, whose education qualifications (88% of them had a second degree in language teaching) and whose exposure to the L2 culture (for an average of ten years) in a working environment where English is used as the medium of communication among colleagues should have played an important role in their acquisition of English pragmatics in terms of judging the pragmatic performance in the twelve letters of requests. Among the various factors investigated in studies concerning the acquisition of L2 pragmatics by students or migrants living in a target-language environment (e.g., Schauer, 2006;Taguchi, 2011), Bardovi-Harlig and Bastos (2011) conclude that language proficiency and the actual experiences in a target-language environment like intensity of interaction are two of the relevant factors that determine the success of the acquisition of L2 pragmatics. Bardovi-Harlig (2013) believes that learners who have higher levels of language proficiency may be more able to take advantage of a target-language environment as far as the development of L2 pragmatic abilities is concerned.…”